My 38g Setup (Mega Pics)
 

I've got various pictures floating around. Now that I finally got my stand, I figured i'd start a new post of everything going into putting the sucker together. Sure its only a 38g (soon to be 75!) but its the building up that counts ;) I've taken lots of pics, because like a bunch of you, I enjoy seeing how setups are built.

If you missed my stand post, here it is.

Few Pics of the Stand:

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...andframe08.jpg

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...andframe15.jpg

Dim: 16wx48lx42h (yes its high!)

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF0718.JPG

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF0875.JPG

I was going to turn a 20g tank into a sump (build baffles and all), but I ended up getting a smokin' deal from Darren, and picked up a Sump that, bigger, better, pretty much finished, and fit my stand perfect. After a little scrubbin', and cleaning, here are the test pics in my stand.

Here's the sump in all its glory. Only real thing I need to change is the output. You'll notice the hole in the back. I need to change that to the right side instead. I'll just cut a peice of acrylic and fit it in the hole.
http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF0879.JPG

Big Baffles = Lots of flow.
http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF0881.JPG

Perfect fit. There is about 1/2" of space between the removable brace and sump.
http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF0887.JPG

I remember that sump! :lol:

Couldn't of been a better fit! Eh?

no kiddin'! And there is perfect space on the right side for the T3. I had to break off some of the acrylic ledges that were on the sump, but it all worked out okay.

Look'n Good. Love the Laminate on the stand, Now I know who to go to for my next Stand :rolleyes:

J

next ahy? Already thinking of another setup? ;)

I painted the inside of the stand, and drilled the top surface for the overflow and returns.

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF1071.JPG

Yes I'm missing one of the grommets. What I figured is once I get my new tank, the right side will be a complete overflow, where the returns will also come up thru it (reasons for keeping 4 holes, 1 will be overflow and 3 return).

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF1117.JPG

I finally picked up a 12V switching power adapter to run the LED fixtures I bought. I grabbed the following: 3x 8LED White, 2x 8LED Blue, 2x 3LED Blue. Each fixture runs anywhere from 10-15.8V, and .05-.08amp.

I'm gonna test using the 8LED fixtures (5 of them) on my 5g fuge, and using the other 2 blue LED's as moonlighting. The 8LED fixtures puts out 90,000mcd each. The power adapter will also run the Vantec Stealth fans for in/output air of my stand.

(click on pics for bigger versions, more pics here

The Move
 

So last night (at about 8pm) I started the move. Moved the tank from the computer room, into the living room where the new stand was waiting. (click on any pictures to see bigger versions)


Before:

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF1128.JPG

After:

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF1147.JPG

I was up until the wee hours of the morning (230am). I removed everything from the tank, including the sand. I wanted to properly put the egg crate I had, right at the bottom, and the only way, was to remove all the sand. Also I wanted to add another 15lbs of sand, so I slightly mixed it with the sand that was in the tank, which left a bit of a sand storm after I moved the tank.

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF1137.JPG

I ended up leaving the fish/inverts in a bucket overnight (with a PH, heater, airstone). Few reasons, 1), the tank was pretty cloudy. 2) I didn't have enough containers for the water, so I had to make some new water overnight.

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF1132.JPG

Also, couldn't have mom be mad while I was working all night, and most of today, so I went to JL to pick up a purple firefish. OMG, one of my favs. I've been waiting for one to come in for a while, and the color on this guy is AMAZING (recon's why the price is more than the red ones!). He spent most of the day in the back on the tank, but when I came home tonight after dinner he was out and about, so he's hopefully adjusted well.

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF1146.JPG

Tank is still kinda cloudy, but hopefully it should clear up over night. Haven't setup the sump yet, thats next on the list now that the tank has been moved. More pictures located here.

tank looks really good love the firefish

mike

Thanks Mike! Its slowly getting there. Having a small budget doesn't help the speed of things, but makes you appreciate it ;) That firefish is great. At first he kept under the rocks, but lately he stays out all day. Just hangs around in the same corner, which is fine by me, the colors are amazing to look at.

So today I finally finished off my HOB overflow box. This was the missing peice to setup my sump. I haven't set it up on the tank yet, that will be this weekend project. I'm using a T3 for a return, and even though its has about 6' of head, i'm worried that the 900gph will be a bit much for my overflow to handle, so I will probably T off some of the return back into the sump.

So in case you haven't seen the actual overflow box itself, that link is here.
I made it sometime back, but I slacked on making the rest of it, which I finally got around to this week. Decided to work a Durso in there to keep things quiet as the tank is in the tv room, so silence is of importance. Btw, please excuse the brutal glue job. I'm still working on my acrylic skills. Here is the finished project:

Front View:
http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF1245.JPG

Back View:
http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF1246.JPG

Overflow Box: You can see the teeth that I milled out on a ramp, which makes a big difference with the water flowing in.

http://www.ditchmond.com/gallery/alb...l_DSCF1250.JPG

(click on above pics to see bigger versions)
(click here for more pictures)

Lookin really nice man. Cant wait to see your tank finished!